This invention pertains to chimneys serving wood burning fireplaces and stoves and in particular to apparatus for removing hard deposits from such chimneys.
Unfortunately, when wood is burned in fireplaces and in many stoves combustion is not complete. Unburned carbon in the form of black fluffy soot may be formed and deposited in the chimney. Though removing it is a messy job tools are available to do the job well. However volatile compounds can be distilled off the burning wood, pass through the flames without being burned and condense out on the walls of the chimney. This condensate can then become baked by the hot gasses passing through the chimney into hard, sometimes glass-like, deposits. These deposits continue to build up as the chimney is used. Some of these deposits peel away from the wall such that they are fairly easy to remove, but much is left fused to the wall and is very difficult to remove. These deposits are flammable. If the fire in the fireplace or stove is allowed to become vigorous enough for the flames to reach into the chimney, the deposits can catch fire. This can quickly become a roaring fire with flames shooting out of the chimney and sparks falling on the roof. Besides the danger of sparks setting the roof on fire, a chimney fire can cause weakening of the chimney, or if it has been weakened already by previous fires or age, can cause cracks that allow fire to reach flammable construction near the chimney. Many homes have suffered fire damage because the chimney was not cleaned or not cleaned thoroughly because the deposits were too hard to be removed with the tools available.
Many prior art devices appear to be directed to cleaning chimneys. The difficulty is to find a device that can produce enough force to penetrate and chisel away hard deposits that are some distance down inside the chimney. A hand-held chisel is effective but only for an arm's length down inside the chimney.
The object of this invention is to provide a remotedly operated apparatus for removing hard deposits located far inside a chimney.